Tag: Square Enix - Page 9
News Chrono Cross Remaster Patch 1.01 Adds 60fps Support as Improvements Keep Coming
We'll take it
It never should have released in the state that it did, but credit where credit is due: Square Enix seems committed to improving Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition — and that's good to see. The remastered RPG has received another update on PS4, which once again promises to improve performance. More specifically, this patch...
News Surprise! Forspoken and Other Square Enix Games Didn't Meet Sales Expectations
Hope you like blockchain gaming
In news that's certain to shock absolutely no one, Forspoken — along with the glut of 'smaller' games that Square Enix released last year — did not meet the publisher's sales expectations. The company's stance on the matter is revealed in its latest business briefing (as reported by RPG Site), with current...
News Forspoken PS5 Update Improves Performance, Tweaks Gameplay Options, More
Available now
A new game update for PS5 console exclusive Forspoken is now available to download. Taking the RPG to version 1.10, this does more than fix a few bugs — it's a pretty big patch that introduces some much requested improvements and enhanced performance. Many of the major bullet points are outlined in this blog post, but we'll go...
Poll What Review Score Would You Give Octopath Traveler 2?
Choose your path
It's a rather large RPG, but it's been out for a few weeks now — and so we want to know what you think of Octopath Traveler II. We're in a bit of a weird situation here on the PlayStation side of things, since the first game was never released on Sony platforms — but the good news is that this (supposedly much improved) sequel...
News Square Enix President Yosuke Matsuda Set to Step Down This Summer
After ten years at the top
It looks like Square Enix is going to be making changes at the summit of its corporate ladder later this year. In a new business memo, the Japanese publisher has revealed its plans to replace Yosuke Matsuda as the company's president, subject to approval from shareholders in June 2023. Matsuda is set to be succeeded by...
Mini Review PowerWash Simulator: Midgar Special Pack (PS5) - Another Chill Crisis Chore
Clean up Shinra's dirty deeds
Now that PowerWash Simulator is out on basically everything, we're starting to get some really interesting DLC. With Square Enix Collective publishing the game, we've seen a pair of exciting crossovers so far. The first was with Tomb Raider, in which you wash the exterior of Lara's massive mansion. Next up is this, the...
News Naoki Yoshida Is Not a Fan of the Term 'JRPG'
"It wasn't a compliment to a lot of developers in Japan."
Naoki Yoshida, the producer of the upcoming Final Fantasy XVI and shepherd of revitalised MMO Final Fantasy XIV, is not the biggest fan of the term JRPG, as it turns out. JRPG is a term a lot of us in the West throw around quite flippantly and, as fans, endlessly argue over exactly what...
News Yes, Sony Helped Optimise Final Fantasy 16 for PS5
And it shows
We noted in our Final Fantasy 16 PS5 preview that the upcoming action RPG feels on par with a first-party production in places, so it’s perhaps no surprise that Sony engineers helped Square Enix with the development of the game. The platform holder has, of course, purchased timed exclusivity for the title – but producer Naoki...
Poll How Do You Feel About Final Fantasy 16?
Take action
It happens every time a modern Final Fantasy game is fully revealed: "this isn't what I want from Final Fantasy". Needless to say, the cycle is repeating with Final Fantasy XVI, which, to be fair, does represent what is perhaps the most significant departure from the series' traditional formula yet — at least in terms of mainline...
News Final Fantasy 16 Features Massive Maps, But Ditches Optional Dungeons
But there's still plenty to do and see
Final Fantasy XVI previews are out in the wild, and we think the next mainline entry in the legendary series is shaping up to be an absolute banger. There's a bunch of new information about the world of Valisthea floating about in the ether, but of particular interest were some comments made by director Hiroshi...
News Final Fantasy 16's Next Info Drop Will Detail Side Quests, Hunts, More
In April, apparently
We've only just been bombarded with brand new hands on previews for Final Fantasy XVI, but if you're already wondering when the next info drop will be, you'll want to mark April on your calendar. That's according to a freshly published Famitsu interview (as relayed by @aitaikimochi), which says that the next big marketing blitz...
News Final Fantasy 16 Demo Planned for Just Before the Game's Release
Live with Clive
Square Enix has a playable demo for Final Fantasy XVI planned, and it'll apparently launch around two weeks or so ahead of the full game's release. According to these very early details, as relayed by the ever-reliable PlayStation Game Size, you'll be able to transfer the demo's save data over to the finished product, which will...
Preview Final Fantasy 16 Is Shaping Up to Be a PS5 Game of the Year Contender
Hit maker
Whisper it, but Square Enix may have an absolute zinger on its hands. There will be some long-time fans who will likely take issue with Final Fantasy XVI’s broadly action-oriented approach, but after approximately an hour of play during a recent preview event, we walked away with our jaw on the floor. If this extraordinarily high budget...
News Forspoken Dev Luminous Productions Will Soon Be No More as It's Folded into Square Enix
Forspoken support still coming
Luminous Productions, the development team behind Forspoken, will merge with publisher Square Enix on the 1st May. The Japanese outfit was already a subsidiary of Square Enix, so this essentially means that it'll no longer exist as its own studio. Instead, we assume that most of its employees will be moved to various...
News Octopath Traveller 2 Remains Simply Stunning in HD-2D Gameplay
Choose your path
Octopath Traveller II is out in the wild now, but we can't stop gushing about how incredible its pixel-perfect HD-2D art style is, which is on full display in the trailer above. In addition to looking like a dream, the music is great, too, not to mention the gripping storyline and excellent turn-based combat mechanics. We thought...
Poll Are You Playing Octopath Traveler 2?
A new path on PlayStation
Octopath Traveler II is here, bringing some traditional, turn-based RPG adventuring to PS5 and PS4. Of course, the first Octopath Traveler is nowhere to be seen on PlayStation platforms — which makes the arrival of this sequel a bit weird — but the good news is that the two titles boast separate stories and characters...
News Stylish Final Fantasy 7 Remake AirPod Case Essential for Prospective Shinra Employees
Its good to be bad
Square Enix has announced a new piece of officially licensed Final Fantasy VII Remake merchandise: a metallic AirPod case engraved with the Shinra Electric Power Company logo.... and we must have it. With space for a charging cable, the case also works with wireless charging options if you are so inclined, and its dangerously...
News Chrono Cross PS4 Update Is Available Now, Frame Rate Fixed
Now running reliably
Square Enix has released the all-important update for Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition just as quickly as it confirmed it following almost a year of silence: it's available now on PS4. You're looking for version number 1.0.1.0; the patch notes are as follows: Framerate improvements Changes to the growth system for...
News Forspoken Ended Up Being 'Nothing Like' Gary Whitta's Original Pitch
On the cutting room floor
Forspoken just kind of came and went, didn't it? After so much buildup pre-release, the magical action RPG dissipated almost immediately upon release into the wild. Part of the hype for the game was the writing talent attached, including Rogue One scribe Garry Whitta and Amy Hennig of Uncharted fame. But as these things so...
News Almost One Year Later, Square Enix Will Fix Chrono Cross PS4 Remaster
Patch will have a "wide range of changes"
After nearly a full year on the market, Square Enix has finally confirmed it will be patching PS4 remaster Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition. The game has lied dormant since release in April 2022, with the base version featuring frame rate issues and input delay. These problems will now be addressed...
Review Theatrhythm: Final Bar Line (PS4) - Solid Rhythm Game Is a Love Letter to a Legendary Series
Kefkaesque
Even if you're a casual observer of Final Fantasy, this isn’t one to miss. Theatrhythm: Final Bar Line collects 385 songs (or 402 if you own the Deluxe Edition) across countless Final Fantasy games, spin-offs, movies, and concerts to create the ultimate celebration of the 35 year old franchise. Final Bar Line is the fourth Theatrhythm...
Review Octopath Traveler II (PS5) - An Immaculate RPG with Brilliantly Realised Characters
Eight times the fun
Square Enix’s 2018 hit Octopath Traveler sold over 3 million copies worldwide, but never made it to PlayStation. Now, the series heads to PS5 and PS4 for the first time with Octopath Traveler II. Still with the striking HD-2D graphics of the first game, the sequel takes what its predecessor did and builds on it, creating a...
News Give Final Fantasy VII's Midgar a Good Scrub in PowerWash Simulator on 2nd March
Five new levels for free
Square Enix has announced the free Final Fantasy VII-themed DLC pack for PowerWash Simulator will be available on PS5, PS4 from 2nd March 2023. It includes five more levels, allowing you to clean the likes of Seventh Heaven, a Mako Energy Exhibit, and an Airbuster. The Scorpion Sentinel and Cloud's Hardy Daytona bike also...
Review Outriders (PS5) - Great Combat? That's a People Can Fly Game
Ridin' dirty
Republished on Wednesday, 15th February, 2023: We're bringing this review back from the archives following the announcement of February 2023's PS Plus Extra and Premium lineup. The original text follows. You know what? Outriders is pretty good. Torn apart during
News Square Enix May Have Just Teased a Final Fantasy Tactics Remaster
Tactics team is "incredibly busy"
We're still feeling the ripples of the enormous GeForce leak, in which a huge list of unannounced games was made public. This includes a Final Fantasy Tactics remaster project, which has still yet to be confirmed. However, given that many of the leaked games have now been announced or released, a remaster of the...
Rumour Final Fantasy Tactics Revival Could Now Be in Full Development at Square Enix
Tactics Ogre dev moves on
In yet another story that suggests Final Fantasy Tactics really is returning, it sounds like the long-rumoured remake, or remaster, or whatever, could be next up on Square Enix's to-do list. This latest hint comes from producer Ichirô Hazama, who, in an interview with Final Fantasy World about Theatrhythm: Final Bar Line,...
News PS Plus Premium Adds Two-Hour Tactics Ogre Game Trial
A tactical decision
Excellent strategy RPG remaster Tactics Ogre: Reborn now has a two-hour game trial through PS Plus Premium. Admittedly, those two hours won't take you very far into what is a demandingly deep tactical title, but it may be just enough to get you hooked. Sony's approach to PS Plus Premium trials has been odd up until now. New...
News Octopath Traveler 2 Demo Out Now on PS5, PS4, and Your Progress Carries Over
Play as all eight characters, too
A playable demo for upcoming RPG Octopath Traveler II has popped up on the PlayStation Store. Available to download right now on both PS5 and PS4, the 'Prologue Demo' weighs in at a reasonable 3.9GB. You might have to manually go looking for it, though. Once you're on the page for Octopath Traveler II, click the...
News Forspoken PS5 Patch Will Address Performance, Graphics, and More as Dev Remains 'Committed'
Promises spoken
Given how busy the February release schedule is, you'd be forgiven for forgetting about Forspoken, which released to a somewhat lukewarm reception a few weeks ago. At least from our perspective, the conversation that surrounded the game seemed to drop off a cliff just days after launch, and Square Enix gave no indication of what was...
News Final Fantasy 7 Remake Producer Says Narrative Changes 'Necessary' to Keep Players Interested
Be careful what you wish for
Final Fantasy VII Remake really could have gone either way, looking back. Remaking a game as iconic and important as the original Final Fantasy VII was no small feat, but thankfully Square Enix delivered the goods, and we got the outrageous Honey Bee Inn dance scene we deserved. As anyone who played through to the end...
News Actress Ella Balinska Has Seen Your PS5 Forspoken Memes, And She Ain't Fussed
Frey to go, girl
Forspoken isn’t the first game in video game history to have dodgy dialogue, and it certainly won’t be the last – but for some reason, it’s become the victim of a social media backlash, with no shortage of out-of-context clips shared online to ridicule lead character Frey. Actress Ella Balinska – who plays the character...
For the use of prohibited third-party mods
The Final Fantasy XIV raid scene has been rocked by controversy (again) following the revelation that the Japanese raid team that was World's First to clear The Omega Protocol (Ultimate) did so with the aid of third-party mods. The Omega Protocol is a super-challenging raid encounter added in patch 6.31...
Poll What Review Score Would You Give Forspoken?
Spell it out
Well, this should be interesting! The time has come to have your say on Forspoken, the Square Enix action RPG that released on PS5 last week. It's more than fair to say that this open world adventure has divided opinion. It was met with mostly lukewarm reviews, and if we're being brutally honest, it feels like the game's already been...
News Scrub Guard Scorpion Clean in Final Fantasy 7-Themed PowerWash Simulator DLC
SCRUBBER 1st Class
In the crossover we didn't know we needed until literally right now, the profoundly satisfying PowerWash Simulator is getting free Final Fantasy VII-themed DLC in the form of the "Midgar Special Pack" We don't have a release date just yet, but we did get an idea of some of the filthy locations and objects we will be tasked with...
News Theatrythm: Final Bar Line Rocks Out Free Demo Launching 1st February
Bop to the beat
Theatrythm: Final Bar Line is shaping up to be the mother of all rhythm action games, boasting a record 385 bangers from across the Final Fantasy back catalogue in the standard edition alone. You can tap along to the beat with a playable demo, launching on 1st February on PS4, and progress will carry over to the full game, which...
Review Forspoken (PS5) - Messy Action RPG Is Massively Hit and Miss
It's a kind of tragic
Forspoken is one of the most hit-and-miss games we've played in a long time. For everything it does well, it fumbles something else, resulting in a fantasy adventure that's full of ups and downs. It's a game that feels a bit confused in terms of what it actually wants to be, chasing a AAA-style 'cinematic' story one minute and...
News Stranger of Paradise Producer Open to Sequel, Provided You Do the Legwork
Please be excited for more Chaos
Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin is kind of an odd duck. We didn't exactly love it in our review, but it resonated with some players and certainly stands out if nothing else. The jury is still out as to whether there is enough demand for a sequel, but legendary producer Tetsuya Nomura says he would be open...
Speak your mind
Forspoken is here, and it's safe to say that the game has divided opinion up until this point. Back when it was first announced, the Square Enix action RPG was billed as a PS5 showpiece, but initial reviews have been all over the spectrum. It's difficult to tell just how commercially successful Forspoken will end up being. We've...
News Forspoken Put Through Its Paces in Latest Digital Foundry PS5 Tech Test
Does it run like magic? No, it does not.
Forspoken is currently the topic de jure in core gaming circles and is, unfortunately, not exactly making headlines for the right reasons. Our own review has been delayed due to Square Enix's tardiness with the code, but we do have a first impressions piece you can check out in the meantime. But how does the...
Preview Forspoken on PS5 Feels Like a Weird Tech Demo
But it does have potential
As you may have already read, we were not sent early review code for Forspoken. This means that we won't have a full review for you to read in time for the game's launch on the 24th January. However, having spent most of the day with the PS5 action RPG, we wanted to write up some first impressions, which will hopefully...
Round Up Forspoken's Divided Reviews Make for Some Rough Reading
Speak up
The Forspoken reviews are starting to come in, and as many predicted, it's not looking great for the open world action RPG. Initial coverage is divided to say the least, with the title currently sitting at a 66 on Metacritic. Not outright bad, but certainly not the hit that Square Enix would have wanted. Generally speaking, reviewers have...
Site News Where's Our Forspoken PS5 Review?
We've just started to Push Square
Right around now, reviews of PS5 console exclusive Forspoken are hitting the web. As the world's biggest independent site dedicated to all things PlayStation, you're probably visiting Push Square to have a look at our own verdict. However, unfortunately, that won't be possible today. In fact, it probably won't be...
News Marvel's Avengers Support Officially Ends in September, Three Years After Release
No Cap
Support for Marvel's Avengers will officially end on the 30th September 2023, developer Crystal Dynamics has confirmed. The live service action game will be just three years old by then, having first launched for PS4 in September 2020. You'll be able to keep playing the game after the above date, both in solo and multiplayer, but there'll be...
News New Octopath Traveler 2 Trailer Is All About Ochette and Castti
Traveler's Tales also covered
Square Enix has uploaded another character-focused trailer for next month's Octopath Traveler II, which is mainly about Ochette the hunter and Castti, who's into apothecary. Sporting the lovely HD-2D art style, footage then changes gears to discussing Traveler's Tales, which act as side quests for the many characters in...
News Forspoken Is Leaking All Over the Place Ahead of Next Week's Release
Beforspoken
Less than a week out from its release, raw Forspoken gameplay is starting to pop up all over the place. The leaks started in the early hours of this morning, when the first 30 minutes of the action RPG appeared online, uncut and shared directly from someone's PS5. As the day's gone on, new footage has dropped on streaming sites like...
News Scrub the Tomb Raider Manor Crystal Clean in PowerWash Simulator
While the butler is locked away...
As far as crossovers go, this has to be up there with the very best. While Square Enix has sold off the Tomb Raider IP, it has still managed to secure a little linkup for PowerWash Simulator and the classic Lara Croft series. Available for free alongside the full game releasing for PS5, PS4 on 31st January 2023,...
Random Forspoken Might Have a Fight Against Autocorrect on Its Hands
'Forsaken' searches spike
Forspoken is out on PS5 next week, and as is usually the case just days before the release of any big budget title, more casual consumers are starting to show interest thanks to advertising campaigns and the like. Forspoken has a very specific problem on its hands, though, as recent Google search trends suggest that...
News Forspoken PS5 Demo to Be Updated with New Features, Bug Fixes
Apparently patch is coming today
A now-deleted Twitter post has revealed the PS5 demo for Forspoken will soon be updated with new features and fixes for bugs and glitches. Caught by ResetEra, the patch will apparently include button mapping functionality, tweaks to the lock-on system, adjustments to text size, and then fixes "various technical...
News Forspoken Will Take Up a Hefty Chunk of Your PS5 Storage Space
Must be all the particles
If you plan on picking up Forspoken when it launches later this month, keep in mind that you might have to make a fair bit of room for it on your PS5's SSD. According to the reliable PlayStation Game Size on Twitter, the action title weighs in at a rather large 87.3GB, putting it up there with some of the console's heftiest...
News Final Fantasy 16's Retail Marketing has Begun in Japan
Here we go
Good news, everyone: it's starting to look like that 22nd June release date for Final Fantasy XVI will stick. And yes, while we've totally just jinxed it, it's still exciting to see the game's marketing machine kicking into gear — particularly in Japan. As pointed out by @Genki_JPN on Twitter, advertising stands for Final Fantasy XVI...
